(Ottawa) Pierre Poilievre is the new leader of the Conservative Party. The fiery MP for Carleton won a clear first-round victory, earning 68.15% of the total points under the leadership race rules.
Posted at 8:04 p.m.
Updated at 9:33 p.m.
Jean Charest therefore failed in his attempt to return to politics on the federal scene. The former premier of Quebec, who was a member of Parliament from 1984 to 1998, was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney and led the Progressive Conservative Party for five years, collected just 16.07 % points.
Pierre Poilievre’s victory was so overwhelming that he obtained the majority of points in 330 of the 338 ridings. In Quebec, he collected 62% of the total points. In all, some 420,000 party members voted.
The other candidates — Ontario Conservative MPs Leslyn Lewis and Scott Aitchison and former Ontario MLA Roman Baber — together garnered about 15% of support.
Under party rules, each electoral district is awarded 100 points. The votes of the members are distributed in proportion to the support obtained by each of the candidates.
” Freedom ! Freedom ! Freedom ! spontaneously shouted several of the approximately 1,000 Conservative activists gathered at the Ottawa Convention Centre, located a stone’s throw from Parliament.
“The work begins tonight to replace this old government that costs more and pays less, with a new government that puts you first”, launched the new Conservative leader after greeting and thanking the other candidates, including Jean Charest.
“Thank you Jean Charest for your long service to our country,” Poilievre said, noting his role in the 1995 sovereignty referendum.
“It’s not my victory tonight. It’s your victory! “, he also launched to the conservative troops by promising to tackle the rising cost of living, his main battle horse during the race for leadership. To Quebecers, he promised to defend the French language and to lead the charge against the “wokism” which he said was taking hold in the country with the Trudeau government.
Present in the room for the unveiling of the results, Jean Charest did not meet the media. On his Twitter account, he launched a call for unity. “Congratulations to Pierre Poilievre and his team. Now is the time to unite the members. We need to end the internal smear. Only Liberals benefit when the Conservative Party is split,” he wrote in his tweet.
From the start, the outcome of this long race was never in doubt. The only suspense was whether Mr Poilievre, who is known for his biting tone and combative style in the House of Commons, would win in the first round. During the race, his organization recruited some 310,000 members out of a total of some 670,000. Mr. Poilievre also received the support of 62 of the 118 Conservative MPs, and also obtained the blessing of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The latter had remained neutral in the two previous leadership races. He did not want to see Jean Charest become leader of the party he co-founded with Peter MacKay.
Pierre Poilievre also takes control of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons. He suddenly becomes the fourth leader of the Conservative Party since its creation following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003.
Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer and Erin OToole were the other leaders of this political party. But none has obtained a mandate as robust and unequivocal as Pierre Poilievre.
Having such a mandate from his troops in his pocket, the new leader will still have an important task ahead of him: to ensure the unity of the party and prevent certain Quebec MPs from slamming the door of the party. The leadership race was most acrimonious, especially between Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest.
Among other things, Mr. Poilievre accused Jean Charest of being a liberal of the same ilk as Justin Trudeau, while the former premier of Quebec slammed Mr. Poilievre for running a Donald Trump-style campaign and giving his support for the convoy of truckers that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The defeated candidate for the Conservative leadership race, Jean Charest
During the race, the Conservative MP for Portneuf, Joël Godin, indicated that he will think about his future as a Conservative MP if Pierre Poilievre becomes head of political training. In an interview with La Presse at the beginning of August, he indicated that he had four options. “Either I resign as an MP, or I join another party that sits in the House of Commons, or I sit as an independent, or I participate in the creation of another party. »
Another Quebec MP, Alain Rayes, who was one of the first Quebec MPs to support Jean Charest, bluntly denounced the vicious campaign led by Pierre Poilievre’s camp.
According to MP Gérard Deltell, who endorsed the candidacy of the former Premier of Quebec, Mr. Poilievre’s victory is unequivocal.
Of course, I would have preferred Mr. Charest to win. The reason I supported him was that I knew he was a leader of great talent and quality, especially since he presented dozens of ideas during the leadership race.
Gérard Deltell, Conservative MP for Louis-Saint-Laurent
“Mr. Poilievre’s victory is clear. The message is vivid. He has strong leadership. The reality is that we have two years ahead of us. We, the Conservative MPs and the party, have a responsibility to prepare the table for the next election. We have two years to come together, to define our program and allow Canadians to appreciate our realistic and responsible program. We have to show Canadians that we deserve their trust,” he added.